He cited the same prison,
the North Lake Correctional
Facility in Baldwin, as an
example of a private prison
that
has
treated
inmates
inhumanely.
“They
promised
cost-
saving but instead had cost
overruns,” Irwin said. “They
cut corners in ways that
resulted
in
people
being
abused, and the state being
sued, and the state having
to pay out all sorts of money,
and many of our people being
treated inhumanely. It was a
total disaster.”
Despite the bill not directly
impacting the facility, Irwin
said it sends a message to
private
prison
companies
and the federal government
that Michigan does not want
privately owned prisons in the
state.
History professor Heather
Ann Thompson, a Pulitzer
Prize
winning
author,
said private prisons are a
mechanism
for
companies
and people to profit off of
mass incarceration and the
suffering of others.
“Private
individuals
and
stockholders and companies
are profiting off of the fact that
other people in society have
been victimized by a crime,
or victimized by the fact that
their sentences are far too
long
and
disproportionate
to
whatever
they’ve
been
accused of doing,” Thompson
said.
LSA senior Kate Westa,
co-president of WeListen and
former vice president of Young
Americans for Freedom, said
while she agrees there are
many problems in the prison
system, the solution is not to
eliminate for-profit prisons.
The market competition could
actually help reduce repeated
offenses, Westa said.
“I think that it falls on
common narrative that just
because something is free
market or for profit that it’s
inherently bad,” Westa said.
“I see the free market and an
increase in competition often
helping in a lot of ways that
it otherwise isn’t when the
government runs the entire
show.”
Irwin said he’s noticed
support from his colleagues
in the state Senate and House
of Representatives for private
prisons, since they can create
job opportunities in more
rural areas of Michigan.
“I think that the bill faces
an uphill battle because many
of the same legislators who
are in the Senate now served
with me in the House when we
passed legislation to support
private prisons,” Irwin said.
Martha Abrams, an LSA
senior
studying
history
with an emphasis on crime
and policing, acknowledged
private prisons do need people
to work in them, but she said
because these facilities are not
owned by the state, the level
of training that employees
are required to go through
is minimal. That can lead to
abuses of power against the
prisoners, Abrams said.
“There’s
an
argument
within Michigan right now,
that
there’s
an
economic
benefit within the community
because
prisons
create
jobs for residents,” Abrams
said. “The problem is that
there’s a severe decrease in
training for the people that
go into these correctional
facilities in sort of any field,
so they’re not trained how
to deal with people who are
in a psychologically harmful
environment.”
Thompson also said private
prisons can lead to an increase
in mass incarceration because
a higher prison population
will generate more profits.
She said in order to keep the
facilities full, prisoners will
sometimes be moved away
from their friends and family,
which can have repercussions
when it comes time for them
to re-enter society.
“The state will promise
a private company that ‘X’
number of their beds will
be full, so that incentivizes
criminalization;
it
incentivizes keeping people in
prison longer, even though all
evidence suggests that that’s
bad for the broader society,”
Thompson said.
Thompson said Irwin’s bill
is important for Michigan
because it will ensure that
correctional
facilities
and
criminal justice are kept in
the hands of the government
and out of the private sector.
“I think we have to have
some
serious
legislative
action
on
preventing
any
company
who
is
in
the
business of locking people
up from impacting laws that
determine how long they’re
locked up,” Thompson said.
“And also, we should — as
principle — outlaw anyone
from being able to profit off of
the misery of somebody else.”
Abrams agreed the bill is a
step in the right direction, but
thinks more reform is needed.
“For people who don’t know
a lot about prison history and
mass incarceration in general,
it’s important to note that
banning private prisons is
certainly a step, but it can’t
be the final one,” Abrams
said. “It’s often referred to
one of these red herrings
legislatively, that, once it gets
passed, it’s certainly great,
but people will stop fighting
as hard.”
PRISON
From Page 1
“Her rent there was probably
$300 to $400, whereas I found a
really, actually, pretty cheap place
about three miles off campus —
so I do have to commute a bit —
and that’s still $800-something
dollars. Most places downtown
for just a room, it’s like $1,300.
My sister’s older and she’s well-
established and even her mortgage
on her house is less than my rent in
Ann Arbor.”
Rall said high rent can push
students into uncomfortable and
unsafe living situations in an
effort to save money.
“I know of situations where
two or three people will split one
bedroom,” Rall said.”Which is
definitely not legal — there’s a
certain amount of square footage
the city says each person must
have. Even one of my friends was
literally living in a closest — he
was able to fit just his mattress in
there — to save money on rent, and
he was still paying around $600
for a tiny closet.”
The increased rates are partly
driven by increasing enrollment
at
the
University.
Students
must choose between living in
University
dormitory
housing
or off-campus housing, which
is often less expensive. Rall said
luxury
student
housing
also
contributes to high rent, as other
property management companies
see
students
have
a
higher
willingness to pay.
“Luxury high-rise apartments
might charge, let’s say $1,400 for
one bedroom,” Rall said. “Then
landlords see this and charge
$1,000, because they know there
will be students who maybe aren’t
willing to pay $1,400 but will see
$1,000 as a better deal.”
Pantaleo
agreed,
saying
housing options are limited near
campus since landlords are free
to charge higher rent to wealthier
students.
“A large chunk of the student
body comes from a lot of wealth,”
she said. “So it’s not really an issue,
their parents generally pay their
rent or something … the places
know that students need a place
to live so they can charge as much
as they want. And honestly their
rates are pretty similar to how
much they charge for dormitory
housing. So it’s kind of like you’re
trapped, you don’t have any other
options.”
Jennifer Hall, director of the
Ann Arbor Housing Commission,
said the University should partner
with the city to alleviate housing
affordability issues for students.
“The U-M owns a lot of land
that could be developed as housing
or mixed-use,” Hall wrote in an
email interview. “The housing
could be owned and managed
by the U-M or the private sector.
The housing could be dedicated to
students and/or faculty and staff.”
Rall echoed Hall’s sentiments
and
said
additional
student
housing from the University
would help address increasing
demand for affordable housing
near campus.
“I live in the Northwood
apartments right now and I pay
$650,” Rall said. “There’s one
other person and we share a
two bedroom unit. I think that’s
pretty reasonable for Ann Arbor,
and having more housing like
this would be beneficial. There
are so many more applicants to
University housing than units
available.”
Pantaleo
suggested
the
University add or expand bus
routes to make living off campus
more accessible. Pantaleo, who
lives about three miles off campus
near the stadium, has to leave
home 45 minutes before her 8:30
a.m. class to be on time.
“I drive to campus and then
park, and then I take the bus
to my class,” Pantaleo said. “If
the University expanded its bus
routes or maybe got more bus
routes that went further and more
often — because I have to take the
city buses and the city buses are
more unreliable, more so than
Michigan buses - that would help
in getting students to maybe live
further off campus and be able to
afford housing.”
Hall said the Ann Arbor
City Council and the Housing
Commission have been assigned
to analyze under-utilized city-
owned properties to see if they
are ideal for affordable housing.
Affordable housing is in demand
in Ann Arbor. In November 2018
more than 4,000 residents applied
for 600 spots on an affordable
housing waiting list.
“That analysis is currently
underway
and
we
will
be
presenting our analysis to City
Council in November,” Hall said.
“The city, like the U-M, County
and other public entities, own
land that is underutilized and
could be developed as housing,
whether that is affordable or
market rate housing. Any market
rate housing that is developed
that has pent-up demand, will
have a positive impact on the
housing market if the goal is to
reduce increased housing costs.”
Hall
said
the
increasing
rental rates affect residents in
more facets than housing. Local
businesses have been negatively
affected as well, which will
in turn impact the Ann Arbor
community.
“The service industry is one of
the back-bones of the economy
and something that many people
take for granted,” she said.
“Local service industries such
as restaurants, hotels, grocery
stores, landscaping and the like
are reporting that they are having
a hard time filling positions
because the people who work in
those industries cannot afford
to work in Ann Arbor due to the
cost of the commute or literally
the difficulty and time it takes
to commute if they do not own a
reliable vehicle.”
To Pantaleo, it is unreasonable
that both landlords and the
University expect students to
pay high rent while in school.
She believes the University has a
responsibility to help make off-
campus housing more affordable
and
accessible
for
students,
and hopes they will partner
with the city and local property
management companies to make
housing more accessible.
“I’m under a lot of scholarships
for my tuition, but I don’t have
anything for housing and that’s
my biggest expense here,” she
said. “The University should step
in and talk to these rental places
because it’s pretty outrageous for
any place to expect students to pay
$1,100 a month when in school.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, September 10, 2019 — 3
RENT
From Page 1
Additionally, House Bill
4378,
sponsored
by
Rep.
Kristy
Pagan,
D-Canton.,
would
ban
disclosure
of
the names of people filing
civil actions alleging sexual
misconduct
under
public
records laws.
Webber said she thought
the bill would help protect
the anonymity and wellbeing
of survivors of sexual assault.
“For a lot of victims, for
a lot of survivors, it’s really
hard to come forward and
have a case,” Webber said.
“It’s a really personal choice
whether survivors choose to
come forward and disclose
to anyone or let alone law
enforcement.
It’s
really
important that we take down
any barriers so that it’s easiest
for the people who choose to
disclose and file lawsuits so
that they have the easiest and
the least traumatic course of
action to do so.”
These bills are a part of a
larger package of bills formed
in the last term to address
sexual assault following the
Nassar case. Many of the
bills were approved by the
legislature but did not clear
the Senate before the end of
session.
“What was revealed by just
simply following a case — and
it’s not just the Nassar case,
there’s other things that have
come to light as well,” Rendon
said.
“Particularly,
when
you’re dealing with athletes
and college campuses, it’s
hard for some of these things
to get overlooked as long as
they did, and that’s why this
legislation is designed to
make sure this type of thing
does not happen again.”
To become law, the bills
still have to be approved by
the Michigan Senate and
signed by Whitmer.
State Rep. Yousef Rabhi,
D-Ann Arbor, voted in favor
of all three bills. He said
he
thought
4378,
which
prohibits the publication of
survivors’ names on public
records,
specifically
was
an important part of the
package.
“A
lot
of
times,
unfortunately,
these
predators
are
the
folks
that are committing sexual
misconduct or sexual assault
are able to find records of
who is filing these cases and
can often either retaliate or
continue to find information
about them that can help
them
to
be
predatory,”
Rabhi
said.
“And
that’s
unacceptable.”
The bills all had bipartisan
support.
“I do think that we as a
state should have had this
on the books already,” Rabhi
said. “But now we’re making
that change, which I think is
necessary, and will help to
address future problems that
arise.”
In an initial review of the
bills, Rabhi said he noticed
an
existing
statute
that
essentially already made it
illegal for a doctor accused
of sexual assault to hold a
medical license. However,
the
statute
assumed
the
assault to take place between
a male doctor and a female
patient,
and
included
a
marital loophole. He made
amendments
to
the
bill
that
made
the
language
more gender neutral and
eliminated
the
marital
loophole.
Rabhi also mentioned he
had a bill in the package
that
would
prevent
K-12
schools from reprimanding
students who come forward
to report instances of sexual
misconduct or assault.
In response to these bills,
state Sen. Jeff Irwin wrote
in an email to The Daily that
work still needs to be done to
improve laws against sexual
assault.
“We
still
need
improvements to shore up
the weaknesses in our laws
against
sexual
assault,”
Irwin wrote. “These bills are
another step in that direction
but they should be broadened
to include other individuals
in positions of trust and
authority.”
BILLS
From Page 1
“I think it’s nice to
have an option,” Spencer
said. “You’re taking your
life in your hands. If you
opt-out, it’s a risk.”
The rest of the
meeting was dedicated
to discussing members’
experiences on several
Senate
Assembly
committees.
While
some reported positive
engagement
with
productive,
organized
committees,
others
expressed concern their
committee
experience
was a waste of time.
While acknowledging
the
time
commitment
required,
Beatty
emphasized
the
importance
of
SACUA
members
attending
committee meetings.
“I get it, it takes a lot of
time … especially if you’re
going to one that felt
like ‘This is not the best
use of my time,’” Beatty
said.
“I
think
there’s
still
something
about
making sure SACUA is at
these meetings and has a
presence, if we can.”
Nursing professor Ivo
Dinov questioned if the
Senate Assembly had too
many committees.
“Quite
frankly,
I’m
not
convinced
that
SACUA
needs
twenty
independently-run
committees,” Dinov said.
“Are these all faculty-
related business? Why
can’t we handle it with
less? It sounds like we’re
all over the place, with
overlaps and synergies.
If there’s time later in
the year, let’s reconsider
that.”
Neil Marsh, a former
SACUA
chair
and
chemistry
professor,
noted
there
had
to
be a minimum of 11
committees,
as
each
University vice president
was
responsible
for
chairing
one.
Beatty
proposed SACUA further
examine
the
necessity
of the nine additional
committees at a later
meeting.
Members also reviewed
each committee’s goals
for the year. In this
discussion,
Classical
Studies professor Sara
Ahbel-Rappe emphasized
she would like to see
focus on the issue of free
speech protections for
faculty
communicating
about politics.
“I
do
think
these
issues are problematic
and dangerous,” Ahbel-
Rappe
said.
“As
we
move into a situation
where they seem to be
less democracy and less
freedom,
I
think
it’s
important to clarify the
legal protections that are
in place for our faculty.”
SACUA
then
moved
into
closed
executive
session to discuss an
update on a 5.09 matter,
which is the University’s
procedure for dismissal,
demotion or termination
of tenured faculty.
We should — as
principle — outlaw
anyone from being
able to profit off
the misery of
someone else.
SACUA
From Page 1
The
Republic
Parking
customer
service
and
administrative
office
at
Maynard
Street
Parking
Structure has a space shortage,
only one toilet and doesn’t have
a back exit, Pollay said. The
proposal would have provided a
new office for them as well.
Ann
Arbor
Mayor
Christopher
Taylor
and
Coucilmember
Julie
Grand,
D-Ward 3, were the only two
in favor of the proposal, while
other council members voiced
concerns about an increase in
downtown parking and the cost
of the proposal. Councilmember
Ali
Ramlawi,
D-Ward
5,
expressed concerns over the
price
tag
of
the
proposal.
Ramlawi said the plan could
prevent other developments.
“I’m just stunned by the
cost estimates to build out on
land that we already bought,”
Ramlawi said. “It seems (like
there’s) lot of uncertainty …
(this proposal) could prevent us
from doing a lot of things in the
future if we wished to looking at
our debt and rating.”
Councilmember Jane Lumm,
I-Ward
2,
voiced
similar
concerns as Ramlawi. Lumm
said the plan is two to three
times typical construction cost,
preferring a plan without the $4
million expansion.
Lumm added DDA didn’t
communicate well with the
council about the addition of
the $4 million project to the
proposal. She described it as
spontaneously appearing on the
council’s agenda with “no heads
up.”
“All of this happens with no
discussion of council,” Lumm
said. “I’m sorry, but this is
a terrible process and just
not how this partnership is
supposed to work.”
Pollay said there are only
about
350
surface
parking
spaces near the Ann Ashley
structure. She said she feared
these spots may be eliminated
in the future when they’re
redeveloped
into
projects
with new residences. Pollay
said the proposal would be an
“investment in the future.”
“If
you
look
around
downtown, much is built out,”
Pollay said. “The exception is
the west side of downtown … our
hope is to see the redevelopment
of that portion of downtown.
We hope by adding this public
parking to this garage, we can
see these parcels be put to much
higher uses … it’s a chance to see
those not used by cars.”
In an email to The Daily,
Grand
wrote
the
proposal
could have aided in meeting
affordable housing goals. She
added she voted for the proposal
because
it
was
thoroughly
vetted by the DDA board and
included needed community
meeting space.
“This project would eliminate
a
commonly
cited
barrier,
parking, to the re-development
of surface parking lots within
the downtown,” Grand wrote.
“As we begin serious discussions
regarding the potential of city-
owned properties, particularly
as it relates to our affordable
housing goals, having a plan in
place to replace some of that
parking makes sense.”
Hayner said the proposal
wouldn’t help residents stay in
the city and there are too many
needs that should be addressed.
“Building housing for cars,
not people? If we could bond
$30 million on the DDA’s back
to provide workforce housing
in the downtown, I’d do that
in a second before I build
housing for cars,” Hayner said.
“I wouldn’t support it in a
modified format, either. I think
it’s too much.”
Councilmember Jack Eaton,
D-Ward 4, said he would like a
new proposal “without luxury
office space.”
In
response
to
these
concerns, Lazarus wrote the
debt service for the expansion
and improvements would be
paid from parking revenues.
He added parking is needed for
new development in the city.
“Additional
parking
is
need(ed)
to
help
support
growth of the northeastern part
of downtown (and) to make up
for the future loss of surface
parking as those properties are
developed,” Lazarus wrote in
an email to The Daily.
DDA
From Page 1